1. Field
The present disclosure relates generally to the nose portions of aerospace vehicles and, in particular, to an expandable nose cone for an aerospace vehicle. Still more particularly, the present disclosure relates to an apparatus and method for moving the nose cone of an aerospace vehicle between an expanded state and a retracted state.
2. Background
A two-stage aerospace vehicle is an aerospace vehicle that uses two distinct stages for propulsion. Typically, the first stage is used to accelerate the vehicle after liftoff. At some point thereafter, the second stage detaches from the first stage and continues on, which in some cases, may mean orbiting. One of the primary advantages of this type of aerospace vehicle is that the entire mass of the vehicle is not carried into orbit. Rather, only the second stage is carried into orbit.
However, with a two-stage aerospace vehicle and/or other types of multi-stage aerospace vehicles, the manner in which the two stages are attached to each other during the first portion of flight becomes an issue. In particular, the various stages may need to be attached in a manner that does not affect aerodynamic performance in an undesired manner.
For example, with a two-stage aerospace vehicle, it may be desirable to align the first stage and the second stage parallel along a common axis to reduce any excess drag. With this type of configuration, however, the nose cone of the first stage may need to be shaped such that the aerodynamic performance of the first stage may allow for controlled flight after the second stage separates from the first stage. In particular, the nose cone may need to have a certain aspect ratio, which may be the diameter of the nose cone divided by the length of the nose cone. However, in some cases, the nose cone may have a longer aspect ratio than desired and, consequently, take up more space than desired. Therefore, it would be desirable to have a method and apparatus that takes into account at least some of the issues discussed above, as well as other possible issues.